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Carlos Larmond, the Ottawa terror twin jailed in 2016 for trying to leave the country to fight for the Islamic State, and later accused of trying to radicalize other inmates, has been released from prison and is living quietly at a halfway house in Calgary.

Larmond, who is now 29, was such a security threat on the inside that he was transferred to the Special Handling Unit (SHU), the country’s super-maximum prison in Quebec, parole board documents reveal. The SHU has caged the most heinous criminals, including Clifford Olson, Karla Homolka, Luka Magnotta and Maurice “Mom” Boucher.

Ottawa terrorist accused of trying to radicalize inmates released from prison, living in Calgary halfway houseBack to video

Larmond, along with his twin brother Ashton, were part of a homegrown Ottawa terror cluster, which saw at least two men allegedly die overseas fighting for the Islamic State, and multiple others arrested.

Carlos Larmond’s prisoner status was re-classified in 2017 and he was shipped back to a maximum-security prison. In 2019, his classification was changed to medium-security offender with a high risk to public safety.

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“You have not shown significant indications of change since incarceration, with you attempting to radicalize others and threatening authority figures,” a parole board member wrote in late November.

The parole board member noted: “Had you followed through with these plans, you would likely have been directly or indirectly involved in the killing and injuring of many people.”

“While your violent history is limited, you displayed a significant commitment to your cause and continued to engage in those beliefs while incarcerated,” the parole board member wrote in an in-office review of the case.

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The parole board member described Larmond’s potential harm to others and national security as exceptional.

After credit for time served in pre-trial custody, Larmond was sentenced to five years in 2016. He has been freed under a law that requires federal offenders to be released after serving two-thirds of a fixed sentence. In this statutory-release law, the offender serves the rest of their sentence in the community.

The release is not granted by the parole board, though it has powers to impose conditions.

In Larmond’s case, the parole board stipulated that he live at a halfway house with a curfew and no overnight privileges, and he has to submit to police checks to review his phone for its search history.

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If he does not breach conditions, he is scheduled to be released in 2021.

Larmond was arrested in January 2015 at a Montreal airport as he was boarding a flight overseas with hopes of joining an Islamic State training camp.

His rapid descent into Islamic extremism wasat the behest of his dominant twin brother, Ashton.

Ashton was arrested in Ottawa at the same time as Carlos and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The RCMP’s case against the twins involved wiretap and informant-provided body-wire evidence. That evidence revealed, in particular, disturbing thoughts and plans by Ashton, the group’s leader.

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After seeing a soldier at Tim Hortons, Ashton said he wanted to slit his throat. He was also heard telling Carlos how a terror attack in a Sydney, Australia, café should have gone down: “You take the head off one of them, then you’re in control.”

In the RCMP wiretaps, Carlos expressed hatred for Imams who preach modern Islam. He said they’re worse than infidels because they tell Muslims to sharpen pencils instead of knives.

When Larmond was jailed in 2016, the judge said his terrorism plans were a betrayal of the teachings of Islam, and hoped the young man had learned the errors of his ways.

Prior to his conviction, Larmond was viciously attacked in the Innes Road Jail after allegedly threatening a man who refused to convert to Islam.

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According to inmates who spoke to this newspaper, Carlos told prisoners if they didn’t convert to Islam their families on the outside would be killed by ISIL.

The Larmond twins, both Muslim converts, were previously drug dealers in east Ottawa and had a troubled upbringing, court filings showed.

Carlos Larmond‘s most vivid childhood memory of his father, a career criminal, was going to see him in prison around Christmas, he once said.

The twins’ terror cluster also included Suliman Mohamed, who was sentenced at the same as the Larmonds; Khadar Khalib, who allegedly was killed in battle fighting for ISIL; and John Maguire, who appeared in an ISIS propaganda video, shot overseas, praising domestic terror attacks on Canadian military personnel. Maguire was also allegedly killed in Syria.

The case against Awso Peshdary, the alleged financier of the group, is still before the courts.

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